Foul play: War on women is real

Suppose it’s the championship basketball game and one player is committing foul after foul. Each time, he denies he’s committed any offense.

Eventually, he fouls out. But even as he heads to the bench, he’s protesting that he did nothing wrong.

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That’s what we’re seeing today from Republicans who claim there is no “war on women.” The Republican National Committee chairman likened it to a “ war on caterpillars.” The Senate Republican leader claims it’s all manufactured – even as female members of his caucus warn about the growing backlash against the GOP from women.

But whether it’s sports or politics, denials don’t change the facts. So let’s look at them.

House Republicans have introduced more than 30 bills that would restrict a woman’s reproductive health care. Those same Republicans, who decry an all-too-powerful government, have no problem deciding what health care is right for our daughters, or sisters or mothers.

Legislators in 39 states have introduced almost 500 measures that tell women what type of health care they can or cannot have. Republicans introduced roughly 90 percent of these measures.

Here in Congress, 116 Republicans in the House and 19 Republicans in the Senate are co-sponsors of “personhood” legislation, which would criminalize abortion with no exceptions for the mother’s life or health. The bill could also outlaw in vitro fertilization and many common forms of birth control. It could even bar doctors from providing life-saving care to women with dangerous ectopic pregnancies.

The Republican governor of Wisconsin recently signed a law passed by Republicans to repeal the state’s Equal Pay Enforcement Act, which protected women’s equality in the workplace.

While Republican Mitt Romney’s campaign had to “ get back” to a reporter last week on whether the candidate supported equal pay for equal work, President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as his first bill. In the Senate, we passed that bill with 56 Democrats, while 36 Republicans voted no.